Between Like and Love
by pogpickplayer
Summary: Craig finally has to choose between ash and manny
1. The CraigManny Connection

Craig Manning sat on the couch in his garage, thinking about everything. On one hand he had Ashley, nice, sweet, smart, funny, cool. Then, he had Manny, who was hot, sexy, and totally willing to be his.  
"How did I get myself into this?" he said, smacking his head. He picked up his guitar and started playing Come as you are, when he looked at the clock. It read 5:32. He sighed, thinking about Manny. He liked her he really did, he wanted to make out with her every second of the day, it was as if he needed her. He thought about Ashley. He also liked Ashley- no he loved Ashley. He liked making out with her too.  
"Hmmm...I need relief. He picked up the phone. "Hi, is Manny there? Thanks."  
"Hello?" said Manny, on the other end.  
"Manny, come over to my house for some fun."  
"I'll be there."  
Craig hung up. Joey was out with Angela, and wouldn't be home till 9, he thought, this is perfect. Deep down though, he felt the slightest bit of guilt.  
The living room was empty, only Craig was there. He glanced at the clock, it was 5:50. She should be here any minute, Craig thought. The door bell rang. He answered it, there standing in the light was the guilty pleasure he had been longing for. "Come in." Craig said to Manny. He locked and closed the door, turned around and was greeted by Manny's body pouncing on to him. They started making out, very hot and steamy. Craig's tongue was flying in Manny's mouth. Manny couldn't help but moaning erotically.  
They transferred from the doorway to the couch. Craig laid Manny down on the couch. Craig took off his shirt and got on top of Manny. He started kissing Manny on the neck slowly up to her lips. They both started frenching. He unbuttoned one of Manny's shirt buttons, not breaking the kiss. All of a sudden Craig pulled away. "No, I can't." he whispered.  
"It's okay, I want you to do it." Manny said.  
Convinced for a second Craig started to lean in, then pulled away. Come on, he thought, keep going. He nodded. "Okay, okay."  
He leaned in, building up all the passion he had since they first started. Manny reached for Craig's zipper to his jeans. This time he stood up. "Manny I can't and...and Joey and Angie will be home soon. You have to leave."  
"Okay, I understand." She gave Craig a good-night kiss. "We have to do this again." And with that she left. Craig sat down on his couch, running his hands through his hair. "Ugghh." He moaned. 


	2. The CraigAshley Connection

The next day, while Craig was walking to school he heard a familiar voice call his name. It was Ashley. She ran up to him and jumped on him. "Hi Craig!"  
"Hi Ash!" He leaned in and gave her a peck.  
"Guess what." She said.  
"What?" Craig replied.  
"My parents are taking Toby to this all weekend Computer thing and I have the whole house to myself. Tonight's supposed to be the coldest night of the last 2 months. So, I was thinking we could sit by the fireplace, snuggle, kiss you know."  
"Well..." he said jokingly. "I don't think I'd miss it for the world."  
  
Ash laughed and kissed him. "See you tonight." The day went by really slow. Craig went from class to class waiting for his second rendezvous in two days. During lunch Craig saw Manny and quickly walked away. He approached his locker and found Emma there waiting for him.  
"Emma?" Craig said.  
"Hey Craig. Can I tell you something?" Emma said, pulling him aside.  
"Yeah, shoot."  
"I know what you're doing Craig. It's insane and just plain wrong. It's made me lose loads of respect towards you. You know you have to make a choice."  
"Yeah, yeah. I know, I know. It's hard though." Craig said.  
"Craig, you should know what to do. The right thing." She said cutting him off and turning away.  
"Emma, wait! Don't tell Ash. Please." He said.  
"Fine."  
The bell rang. Craig was thinking of the close encounter he just experienced. He couldn't think of what Ash would say if she found out. Anyways, off to class.  
Craig slowly, but surely walked to Science. The dread of my day, Craig thought. Ms. Hatzilakos told everyone to quiet down and they began. Craig couldn't believe how fast science went. When the final bell rang he was off like a rocket.  
As Craig entered his house, he almost tripped over the doorway but quickly recovered and shot up to his room.  
"What am I gonna wear?" Craig stopped. He realized he was talking to himself. He continued deciding on a black Pink Floyd t-shirt. His coolest jeans, and a dark green sweatshirt. He looked at his watch. It was 4:00...he decided to call Ashley.  
"Hello?" answered Ashley.  
"Hey Ash when should I be at your house?"  
"Ummm...around 5:30." Ash replied.  
"Okay. Can't wait." Said Craig. He hung up. Wow, he thought I'm really excited. He laughed aloud at how cheesy that sounded. Craig started wandering around his living room, thinking of what to do.  
"Hmmm...I could play video games. Nah, not in the mood. I could play my guitar. No, no, no. I can't wait. I can't wait." Craig started singing. Then he stopped. "What the hell am I doing?" he asked himself. He decided to call Marco. He had to do something. Craig dialed the number and put the phone to his ear.  
"Hello?" answered Marco.  
"Hey Marco what's up?" Craig said.  
"Ummm...nothing. I'm kinda busy right now though."  
"Oh. Well I ju-" he was cut off by another boy's voice which sounded awfully like Dylan Michaelchuk. "Y'know Marco, I'll leave you to what you're doing." Craig shuddered, "Later." He hung up.  
"Ewww! I can only imagine. But why would I want to?" Craig laughed at that remark. He looked at the clock, it read 4:45. Craig decided to head over to Ashley's. It was beginning to get dark. As he headed out, Joey was heading in.  
"Where ya goin' Craig?" said Joey.  
"To Ashley's." Craig replied.  
"Hey do you think you might be able to stay over there for tonight?" Joey asked.  
"Why?"  
"Well, Angie unexpectedly caught the chicken pox. And I know you haven't had them yet so..." Joey said.  
"Great. I'll pack a bag." Craig went up to his room, picked out some clothes, and shot back down.  
"Alright Craig, no hank panky! Got it?" Joey asked.  
"Yes, Joey. Later I gotta go!" He shot out. He walked to Ashley's house humming "I hate Christmas Parties" by Relient K. When he arrived he rang the doorbell, and there stood Ashley, wearing a gray sweatshirt, and black velvet pajama pants.  
"What's with the bag?" Ashley asked.  
"Six words. Angie, chicken pox; Craig, never had them. Can I spend the night here?" He asked.  
"What do you think?" she said, pulling him in, leaning in and kissing him. "Craig."  
"What?" he asked.  
"I'm cold." She said, embracing him with her arms.  
"Mr. Snuggles here, ready for action!" Craig said, being dragged to the big, soft couch. Craig laid down half his back on the edge and half on the couch and Ashley laid on top him. He put his arms around her, and they sat watching the fire. Ashley kind of turned around and kissed Craig, first starting out as a peck, and then it turned into a full-on make out. Ashley was now turned around completely and had her arms around Craig, and he had his arms around her waist. In between kisses Craig said," Soft pants." They both laughed and continued making out. He started going lower, transferring from the lips to the neck.  
"I love you." Ash said.  
"I love you too." He said, going back to the lips.  
"Do you wanna go to my room?" Ash asked.  
"Yeah." Craig said, laughing. They got up and practically ran to Ashley's room. They got there and Craig said," Taking clothes off is out of the question, it's too freaking cold."  
"Yeah." Ash said, laughing. All of a sudden she pushed him on the bed, and she pounced on him. They started making out hot and steamy. We've NEVER mad out like this, Craig thought, but hey I'm enjoying this! Craig made little Mmm sounds every few seconds. They must have kissed for 10 minutes because when Ashley pulled away he could hardly breathe. But he managed to get the circulation going again. "That was awesome." said Craig.  
"Definitely." Ashley replied. They laughed a little. "Wanna go again?"  
"I've been waiting since we stopped..." They started making out again. Craig pulled away. "We're not gonna do it are we?"  
"No...It wouldn't be right." She replied. "But we can show skin...there are always blankets."  
"Right-o!" Craig said. Ashley dove for his button and zipper and she had them undone in a second, but didn't pull them down. She started to reminisce of when her and Jimmy had almost done it. She couldn't help but think she still wasn't ready.  
"Craig..."she said. "Can we call it a night?" Damn, Craig thought.  
"Yeah...yeah." He said. Craig got up, got his stuff and went and changed. He changed into his plaid pajama pants, went into ash's room, kissed her goodnight and went to bed. 


End file.
